Christopher Tompkins

CEO of The Go! Agency, Speaker, and Author of “The Go Method.”

Back in the day, social media was intended for teenagers and young adults to roam and cause ruckus. Mark Zuckerberg’s technological wonder, Facebook, was originally designed just for college students. In fact, in its early days, you needed a “.edu” email address to sign up. However, things have begun to change– the grown-ups are now checking out social media.

This has been a curious event that has transpired over the past few years. A large majority of adults over 50 are flocking to social media, more specifically to Facebook. Why is this, exactly? Technology has changed the world and Generation X and the Baby Boomers — and sometimes even older– have noticed. The prime suspect is Facebook, seeing as how it is a primary source of communication for many people. Here, they can see their old friends from years ago or check on their kids.

But beyond the social side of this movement, it is no coincidence that once businesses started getting heavily involved in social media, so did these older users. It went beyond posting updates and pictures and took the marketing side of things more seriously. Many of these users utilize Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn for business purposes. They take advantage of these services to spread their brand in the wild internet frontier. It may be different from traditional marketing, but a majority of them see its impact and have stuck with it.

After Facebook, older adults have flocked to Twitter and LinkedIn next. Both of these are heavily involved in the business world. We’ve even seen Twittter affect the Presidential Election this year. It is great for instant news that keeps on updating.  LinkedIn is where it gets considerably more serious. Here, professionals in any industry can connect without the frills of other platforms. They’re able to use LinkedIn for business ventures and networking in ways that only conferences could provide prior to the internet.

So, move over Millennials. There are new users in town. Don’t worry though, you still have Instagram and Snapchat primarily to yourself.